Daily Times

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Saturday rejected the new joint investigation team (JIT), constituted by the federal government to investigate the failed assassination attempt on party chief Imran Khan in Wazirabad.

Imran had sustained multiple injuries in the gun attack on November 3 last year while leading his ‘Haqeeqi Azadi’ march towards Islamabad. One person died in the shooting, while several other members of the PTI chairman’s close circle, including Faisal Javaid, Imran Ismail, Ahmad Chattha and Imran Yousaf were also injured.

Speaking to the media in Lahore on Saturday, PTI Central Punjab President Dr Yasmin Rashid said that the new JIT included all those officers – Syed Khurram Ali, Ehsanullah Chauhan, Malik Tariq Mehboob, Naseebullah Khan and Kamran Adil – who had earlier derailed the investigation. “They were involved in destroying the evidence of the attack. The prosecutor had clearly stated that these four people disappeared evidence and thus we do not accept this new JIT,” she maintained.

She was accompanied by PTI Central Punjab Information Secretary Andleeb Abbas and other party leaders.

Rashid said that the JIT constituted by Punjab government was already investigating the Wazirabad attack then why did the federal government intervene and constituted a new JIT. “We will file a petition in the Lahore High Court on Monday against the constitution of the new JIT,” she added.

The former Punjab health minister alleged that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and another person were not letting the investigation proceed and they attempted to weaken the evidence of the attack.

“The federal government was involved in the attack, ploys were being concocted to murder the country’s most popular leader,” she added.

She alleged that Sanaullah was a murderer and he wanted to kill the former prime minister. “The terrorists were not being caught by the government whereas we were made into terrorists.”